Former Ameriprise Adviser Oscar Overbey Sentenced to 3½ Years for Fake 'Government-Backed' Investments

Case from 2014 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Oct. 3, 2014). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Oscar Donald Overbey Jr., a former financial adviser at two north suburban Ameriprise Financial Inc. offices, was sentenced on Oct. 2, 2014, to 3½ years in federal prison for a fraud scheme that ran from about 1996 to 2007, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1]. Prosecutors said he took about $4 million from more than 30 people, causing losses of just over $3 million.

How the scheme worked

According to court documents cited by prosecutors [1]:

1. The pitch: Overbey sold purported investments, such as a short-term, government-backed product paying 10% interest.
2. One family's loss: Two university workers and their two daughters invested $150,000, raised by refinancing their home and drawing on a home equity line. Overbey invested none of it.
3. Where it went: He used victims' money for personal expenses, gambling and Ponzi-type payments to other victims; the $150,000 alone funded more than 10 such payments.

"[Overbey] abused that trust and misused his education and skills as an investment advisor to benefit himself and to keep his scheme going," a prosecutor argued at sentencing.

The person sentenced

Oscar Donald Overbey Jr., 47, Country Club Hills, formerly of Evanston

• Indicted: 2012. Pleaded guilty: February 2014, to wire fraud.
• Sentence: 42 months in prison, three years of supervised release with a ban on gambling and on visiting casinos or racetracks, and $3,090,833 restitution, imposed by U.S. District Judge Gary S. Feinerman [1].

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated with the cooperation of the Illinois Securities Department.

Red flags

• "Government-backed" products paying double-digit interest.
• An adviser who asks you to borrow against your home to invest.
• Payments made to the adviser personally or to an account outside his firm.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Make sure money goes to the brokerage firm itself, and that the investment shows up on the firm's official statements.
2. Check the adviser on FINRA's BrokerCheck.
3. Report it to the firm's compliance department, FINRA, your state securities regulator and the SEC at sec.gov/tcr.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Oscar Donald Overbey Jr., Country Club Hills, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Feinerman)	Pleaded guilty Feb. 2014; sentenced Oct. 2, 2014, to 42 months; $3,090,833 restitution	[1]

The sentence was imposed in 2014; we have not found a source on Overbey's current custody status.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Former Investment Adviser Sentenced To 3½ Years In Prison For $3 Million Loss To Victims In Financing Fraud Scheme," Oct. 3, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-investment-adviser-sentenced-3-years-prison-3-million-loss-victims-financing

---

Corrections and updates: If you are named in this article, or represent someone who is, and believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date (including a dismissal, acquittal, or change in case status), please contact us at editorandchief@scammers.com. We will review it and update the article promptly.